The 80K offer for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is back both direct and via friend referrals. If you have the card already, you can earn up to 75,000 points referring friends. If you don’t have the card, this is a great time to sign up… if you’re eligible. For the latter, many people have questions about whether they qualify or how to qualify. Here’s what you (or they) need to know…
Refer-A-Friend Basics
- Earn 15,000 bonus points for each friend you refer who successfully signs up for the Sapphire Preferred card.
- You can earn a maximum of 75,000 bonus points per year from a single card.
- Each friend you refer can earn 80,000 bonus points after $4K spend in 3 months if they are approved.
- You can find your refer-a-friend link here.
80K Offer Basics
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
60K points ⓘ Affiliate 60K after $4K spend in 3 months$95 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: There may be elevated offers available by applying in-branch A similar offer with the first year annual fee waived may be found in-branch. YMMV. FM Mini Review: Great signup bonus. Unlocks ability to transfer points to hotel & airline partners. Solid option to pair with fee-free Ultimate Rewards cards such as the Freedom cards, Ink Business Cash, and Ink Business Unlimited. Earning rate: 5X Travel booked through Chase Travel℠ (2X all other travel) ✦ 3X Dining ✦ 3X Select streaming services ✦ 3X Online grocery ✦ 5X Lyft (through March 2025) ✦ 10% annual point bonus Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Primary auto rental collision damage waiver ✦ Free DashPass through 2025 ✦ Transfer points to airline & hotel partners ✦ $50 annual credit for hotel stays booked through Chase ✦ $15 quarterly Instacart credit ✦ 6 months free Instacart+ |
Online Offer:
- Earn 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $4,000 spend in 3 months.
- $95 annual fee is not waived
In-branch offer: Some have reported that the same offer is available in-branch, but with the $95 annual fee waived for the first year. You cannot refer friends to this in-branch offer.
In order to qualify for the Chase Sapphire Preferred 80K bonus, you must meet the following criteria:
- Under 5/24: If your credit report shows that you opened 5 or more new cards from any card issuers in the past 24 months, then you will not be approved for a new Chase card.
- No current Sapphire card: You must not currently be the primary cardholder of the Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or no-fee Sapphire card. It’s okay if you are an authorized user with any of those cards, but not a primary cardholder.
- No Sapphire bonus in last 48 months: If you received a welcome bonus for either the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve card in the past 48 months, then you are not eligible for this bonus.
- Qualify for $5,000 credit line: Chase won’t approve your application unless they see fit to allocate a $5,000 credit line or more to your new account. Note that if you are a current Chase customer with other consumer cards, they will usually be open to moving credit from other cards in order to make this happen if needed.
- Meet minimum spend requirements: Once you are approved for the Sapphire Preferred, you have 3 months to make purchases totaling $4,000 or more. Keep in mind that the $95 annual fee (and any other card fees you incur) do not count towards that total. Also, any charges that count as cash advances will not count towards the total.
Questions and Answers
Refer-A-Friend Questions
I am a current Sapphire Preferred cardholder, how do I refer friends?
You can find your own refer-a-friend link here.
I am a current Sapphire Reserve cardholder, can I refer friends to this offer?
No.
I am a current Sapphire Preferred cardholder, can I refer a family member?
Yes.
Can I refer myself?
No.
Can I post my referral link on your blog?
No. Sorry. We want to keep the blog comments clear of everyone trying to spam each other with referral links. The purpose of blog comments is to discuss topics related to the post.
Will I be taxed on the refer-a-friend bonus points I earn?
Probably. In recent years Chase has sent out 1099 forms for bonus points earned when referring friends. The value listed for 15,000 bonus points is $150. This is different from the welcome bonus earned when signing up for cards. Welcome bonuses that require spend of any kind (which is pretty much all welcome bonuses) are not taxed because they are considered a rebate on spend.
80K Offer Questions
How do I apply for the Sapphire Preferred 80K offer?
Ask a friend for a referral. Alternatively, you will find a link for this offer on our dedicated Sapphire Preferred Card page here. The same page includes a full guide to the card’s perks and rewards.
How much are 80,000 points worth?
The answer depends upon how you use the points:
- $800: You can directly cash out your points for a penny each
- $1,000 towards travel: Points are worth 1.25 cents each when you use points to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
- $1,000 towards various “Pay Yourself Back” purchases. Via Chase’s Pay Yourself Back feature, you can redeem points at 1.25 cents each to offset certain categories of purchases. Through 6/30/22, you can Pay Yourself Back for Airbnb purchases. Chase updates the categories and/or end dates of the existing categories a few times per year.
- $1,200 towards travel or Pay Yourself Back categories. If someone in your household has the Sapphire Reserve card, you can move your points to their account to make them more valuable. Or, after a year with the Sapphire Preferred, you can upgrade to the Sapphire Reserve. Either way, booking travel or Paying Yourself Back for certain categories of purchases will get you 1.5 cents per point value.
- $2,000 or more towards travel. Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to a number of travel partners (see details here). In many cases, if you know what you’re doing, it’s possible to get far outsized value for your points this way. Here’s just one example: The Grand Hyatt Kauai often charges over $1,000 per night after taxes and fees. Alternatively, you can pay 21,000 (off-peak), 25,000 (standard), or 29,000 (peak) Hyatt points per night for the same stay. Since you can transfer Chase points to Hyatt 1 to 1, you could move 75,000 of your Chase points to Hyatt in order to book 3 nights at the resort when standard priced. That’s $3,000 in value compared to the cash rate!
How long will this offer last?
Unfortunately I have no idea.
Will they waive the first year annual fee if I apply in-branch?
I believe so, but check with your local branch to be sure.
I applied and was denied. Is there anything I can do?
Yes! When denied for a Chase card, call the reconsideration line (1-888-270-2127) to ask for the decision to be reconsidered. If you currently hold other consumer Chase cards, tell the agent that you are not looking for more credit and you are happy to move credit from another card to open this one.
I recently applied for an inferior offer. Will Chase match me to the 80K offer if I ask?
Maybe. Chase has gone back and forth over time as to whether or not they’ll match offers. It’s definitely worth a phone call! Please let us know if it works for you.
I recently applied for an inferior offer, but a decision is pending. What should I do?
Call and ask to rescind the application. You should then be able to apply separately for the 80K offer.
Can my significant other also apply so that we will earn 160,000 points?
Yes. If you can both qualify and can both meet the minimum spend requirements then it absolutely makes sense for both of you to apply. The best option is probably for one of you to apply first, wait to activate the card and see if you can generate a referral offer. If so, then your significant other can use your referral link so that you’ll get an additional 15,000 points. Altogether, not counting points from spend, you can earn 175,000 points across two people.
Chase also allows people within the same household to share points, and so you could move the points all to one account as needed (you’ll have to call Chase to setup the initial transfer though). There usually isn’t a good reason for two people in the household to keep these cards long term, so after a year I recommend that one of you product change to a fee-free Freedom Unlimited or Freedom Flex card.
Can I earn the bonus by product changing to the Sapphire Preferred from another Chase card?
No.
Can I apply and earn the bonus even if I have other Chase Ultimate Rewards cards such as Chase Freedom Unlimited or Chase Ink?
Yes.
5/24 Questions
How do I know my 5/24 status?
See this post: Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status.
I am over 5/24 due to being an authorized user on several accounts. Can I qualify?
Yes. When you apply for the Sapphire Preferred, you will probably be initially denied, but you can then call the reconsideration line (1-888-270-2127) to explain that you are not responsible for those credit lines. They should then be able to reconsider your application and approve you if your are under 5/24 with your primary cardholder accounts.
Current Sapphire Card Questions
I currently have the Sapphire Reserve card. Can I qualify for the Sapphire Preferred?
No. Chase treats these, and the no-fee Sapphire card, as a single product family. You are only allowed to have one Sapphire card at any time.
I currently have a Sapphire card. Can I cancel it and then apply for the Sapphire Preferred?
Yes, but I recommend product changing instead to a no-fee Chase Freedom card (Freedom, Freedom Unlimited or Freedom Flex). Product changing will preserve your points and your credit line. Plus, if you aren’t approved for the Sapphire Preferred, you could then product change back.
After cancelling or product changing, I recommend waiting at least a week before applying for the Sapphire Preferred.
I currently have a Sapphire card. Can I product change it and then apply for the Sapphire Preferred?
Yes. Chase even mentions that option directly in the card’s offer terms. They state: “If you are an existing Sapphire customer and would like this product, please call the number on the back of your card to see if you are eligible for a product change.”
Product changing will preserve your points and your credit line. Plus, if you aren’t approved for the Sapphire Preferred, you could then product change back.
After product changing, I recommend waiting at least a week before applying for the Sapphire Preferred.
I currently have a Sapphire card but only because I’m an authorized user. Can I sign up for the Sapphire Preferred?
Yes! Only the primary cardholder of a Sapphire account is prohibited from signing up for a new Sapphire card.
Product Change Questions
I currently have a Sapphire card. Which card should I product change to?
Any Chase Freedom card will work. You can product change to the legacy Freedom Visa card, the Freedom Unlimited Visa card, or the Freedom Flex Mastercard. If you want to keep your original card number, then change to one of the Visa cards. If you don’t already have the Freedom Unlimited card, that’s a great one to have anyway, so I’d go for that. See our guides here:
If I product change, what happens to the points in my account?
If you product change to any kind of Freedom card, your points will be preserved in your Freedom account. Once your Sapphire Preferred account is open, you can then move your Freedom card’s points to your Sapphire Preferred account in order to make them more valuable again.
If I product change and then I’m denied for the Sapphire Preferred, can I product change back?
Yes — most likely. I can’t guarantee that Chase will offer you that product change option, but it is very likely.
What happens to travel booked recently on my Sapphire card for the travel protections? If I product change to a Freedom card, will I keep the travel insurance protections for my trips?
I don’t know. My guess is that your travel protections will be based on the card you have at the time that you file a claim, but I’m not sure.
48 Month Rule Questions
I signed up for the Sapphire Reserve 100K offer when that card was first introduced. How do I know if it’s been 48 months since I earned the bonus?
Most likely, it has been far more than 48 months. I believe that the Sapphire Reserve 100K offer was available until February 2017. So, even if you applied at that time and earned the bonus 3 months later, it should be well over 48 months since you received that bonus.
How long has it been since I earned my last Sapphire bonus? I don’t remember.
If you have records of when you signed up for the card, you can estimate that you received the bonus about 3 months later. That should give you a good enough timeline. If you don’t know when you signed up or you need a more precise answer, I recommend calling Chase or sending them a secure message to ask.
It has been more than 48 months since I received a welcome bonus, but less than 48 months since I cancelled my Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve card. Can I qualify?
Yes. The 48 month rule is specific to the date in which you last received a welcome bonus for the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve card. It’s okay if you have recently had one of those cards as long as you no longer have it at the time you apply.
I previously had a Sapphire card, but I never earned a welcome bonus. Can I qualify?
Yes. As long as you don’t currently have a Sapphire card (Sapphire, Sapphire Preferred, or Sapphire Reserve) you can qualify.
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So how do I find a referral for 80K. Link? Thanks.
Hi Gary, if you click through the “more” button on the card details then on “click here to apply,” you’ll get to an 80K link.
My wife received a 100k offer in the mail yesterday
How fast after I get the CSP can I then upgrade it to CSR?
I am debating between CSP 80K vs AMEX Gold 90K offers and i am below 5/24. if i want to only one card what is best signup bonus? any advise or opinions are appreciated. thanks for this writeup
Often the referral link is not as good as the going rate. I see that often with chase products. It is quite possible that if a friend applies with a link from the referral they will only get 60K points and that will not change. The friend would do better to apply directly to the 80K link. Whatever the referral link says it is offering, is what that person would get. That is why the referral links are often not helpful for the recipients.
It seems like chase will not approve new credit for me. I’ve got 6 cards with them, 3 freedom, and in applying for the CSP, I don’t have enough credit limit on my available cards to move around to a new card. The only option is to close a current account. I’m looking to get back into a few new chase cards as I am way under 5/24. Any options around closing accounts since I hate to do that?
No options that I can think of
Next month will be 4 years since I applied and was approved for the Sapphire Reserve card. If I cancel when the annual fee is due, how long do I need to wait to apply for the Preferred card? I don’t remember how long I took to meet the minimum spend on the Reserve or even how long they gave me at the time to meet minimum spend. I am assuming it was 3 months but I’m not sure. I can wait a while to apply for the Preferred card I just don’t want to wait any longer than necessary because I would like to get the 80k Ultimate points instead of the standard 60k or even less.
How long has it been since I earned my last Sapphire bonus? I don’t remember.If you have records of when you signed up for the card, you can estimate that you received the bonus about 3 months later. That should give you a good enough timeline. If you don’t know when you signed up or you need a more precise answer, I recommend calling Chase or sending them a secure message to ask.
Looking for insight whether I should PC my CSR to a Freedom then signup for CSP? I’ve had CSR since inception and it is my go-to card for daily use. I am below 5/24 and I have not had any other Sapphire cards or bonuses within 48 months. My CSR AF posted on 2/1/22 and I’ve used ~$210 of my annual travel credit.
Would it make sense to downgrade (PC) my CSR to some form of Freedom and then get the 80k UR for CSP, then upgrade the CSP to CSR again?
As mentioned, I have not completely drained my annual $300 travel credit yet. I love CSR and want to have access to 1.5cpp UR redemption thru the Chase portal.
If I downgrade, signup for CSP for SUB, then upgrade to CSR, can I get another $300 annual travel credit?
Also, my wife is below 5/24 and does not currently have any Sapphire card and she has not received a Sapphire bonus in > 48 months, so if I can get the CSP then I can also refer her to CSP for another 15k referral + 80k SUB.
It would make sense for the signup bonus, but I don’t think they’d let you upgrade your Freedom back to CSR as long as the new CSP is open. Instead you would have to wait a year and then can upgrade the CSP to CSR
Since you can only have one sapphire card at a time, how do you cancel and really without losing points? Assuming some people do not have a business ink card?
Don’t cancel. Just product change to a Freedom card and your points will be preserved.
Thank you. Was just a bit confused because you cannot hold 2 sapphire cards at once, but if you downgrade to freedom card, you no longer have an UR credit card account.
Freedom is UR too. I know they advertise them as cash back but they’re really UR
I just tried to refer a friend but it is still showing the 60,000 point deal instead of 80,000. Should this be updated in Chase’s system already?
I’m in this boat, too. When I tried through the 80,000 Refer A Friend link in this article, it said I was not eligible for this offer. Any insights why that would be? Is this a targetted thing to have the 80,000 Refer A Friend link?
Is the referral link landing page still showing the 60k offer? I know my referral link said 60k in the text included with the link but when you went to the actual landing page, it was the 80k offer.
Yes, the same for me, seems the text is just not updated.
As long as the landing page shows 80K you should be fine. I don’t know why it has been showing 60K in the text.
I was going to have my wife “refer” me – quite incredibly family is allowed to do so – but a $95 first year fee for an extra 15k miles for her isn’t the greatest deal in the world, considering that I can go into a branch and get the same 80K with no annual fee the first year – and I think I got a mailer from them that I was pre-approved and might be able to do this online.
Mak, I think the 15K points is definitely worth more than the $95 fee. For booking travel or Pay Yourself Back 15K points is worth $187.50. Transferring to Hyatt, you can get way more value!
Or you can just cash out 15K points at $150. Not the highest-value redemption, but definitely worth more than $95. However … since referrals are capped at 75K total per year, depending on how many total referrals you think your wife can get in a year, the in-branch offer could still make sense.
don’t forget the taxes on the referral though…so a bit less than $150 but I still generally agree
Fair point. Thanks.
Player 2 just applied on Sunday, 4/10 via refer a friend link at 60,000 points. I figured 15,000 points for referring a friend so 75,000 points total. After seeing the new offer, I just sent a secure message asking for the match to 80,000 points and included the refer a friend link. I can see the credit card in the online chase account, but it has not been received in the mail as of yet so hopefully the timing works out. I will advise of the outcome from the request.
Update: No matching to the current offer.
After emailing via secure message yesterday, this was the response I received from Chase.
Hello XXXX,
Thank you for contacting us.
We have reviewed your request to match the new account
bonus offer for your account.
XXXX, regrettably, your account is not eligible for
the new offer you requested. Offers are subject to
availability at the time of application and many times
cannot be changed from the original offer linked due to
the terms and conditions of the account. Please note that
offers do change frequently both on the Chase and partner
website.
You will receive 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,
000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account
opening.
Purchases do not include balance transfers, cash advances,
travelers checks, foreign currency, money orders, wire
transfers or similar cash-like transactions, lottery
tickets,casino gaming chips, race track wagers or similar
betting transactions, any checks that access your account,
interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, and fees of
any kind, including an annual fee, if applicable.
We appreciate you being a Chase customer.
I haven’t seen any successful matches anymore!
I will wait for 100K to come again
I’m predicting that will be a very long wait.
I had a note on my calendar back in January that I was eligible again for this card, but at that point the SUB seemed too low, especially given that it had been 100K until not-so-long before then.
But at 80K, I think I am going to bite. There is an opportunity cost to the waiting, since it increases the amount of point-less time in between sign-ups.
Also, I have a P5 who has the card now and will probably downgrade it within the next 3-4 months, so doing this now helps keep the points within the family.
I got the Preferred in Feb. with a 60k bonus. I’ve already met the minimum spend and just received my 60k UR. Is there any chance they would match the new offer?
Yes there’s a chance. I’d recommend waiting until the 80k offer is available through all channels and not just refer a friend before calling.